


I am bad at titles

by CrookedMe



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: I tried to keep em in character but it didnt work exactly rip, Multi, OOC, Oop, Pokemon, this got WAY longer than I meant it to be, this was supposed to be a oneshot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookedMe/pseuds/CrookedMe
Summary: Sorry for the work name, not sure what to call it.Anyways your Raihan's shy little sibling who just entered the gym challenge, you meet Bede, an egotistical boy who you assume has a bad past and your best friend(Best f r i e n d huh reader-) Marnie, will you be able to beat the gym challenge while pining after two people at once and not even knowing it?
Relationships: Bede x reader, Bede x reader x marnie, Marnie x reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	I am bad at titles

You had entered the stadium all alone again, it'd been ages since you had even left raihans side, and it was terrifying, but you needed to be more assertive and independent. 

You knew your brother meant well, but you would rather be anywhere but here, surrounded by all these people who were your rivals, wanting to beat you at any given moment.

It'd be so much easier if Raihan was here, but he's not, and it was easy, just walk up, show the endorsement, and get signed in. Easy. Simple. Nothing to worry about. No problem. But if it was no problem, why were you shaking like a leaf, why did it feel like everyone was talking about you behind your back? Why where people looking at you? 

Your Jangmo-o that your brother had caught was looking at you with concern as it sat on your shoulders. 

_ Okay, maybe I just need to calm down, calm down y/n, just chill out, you're okay, you're not there, just breathe.  _

Despite your attempts, you were still breathing quickly, you felt more useless by the second, and oh god you can't do this, it's too much oh god you need to leave _.  _

You had only just entered the building, but you were already running out at full speed  _ somewhere.  _ Jangmo-o had to cling onto your neck to not fall off, you noticed the wild area in the distance,  _ okay I can calm down there,  _ you were lost in your thoughts that you didn't see that you bumped into someone. 

"Ow!" They said as they fell to the ground. You had stopped dead in your tracks to be met with two people, both males, the one you had bumped into had dark skin, gold eyes, and blue hair. He was wearing a black shirt and pants with a blue jacket he wore, he had black, purple, and white flats on, and a small, green, cylinder bag, slung on his back. 

The other male had white skin, brown eyes, and hair, he wore a gray hat with a bright red shirt with blue jeans, brown flats on, and a giant, rectangular, brown bag on his back. 

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, it's my fault I wasn't looking where I was going, did I hurt you? Do you need help?" You where rapid-fire asking both of them quicker than you meant, and both males looked at you in confusion?

The one you had bumped into got up and said, "Woah mate, slow down. You're talking too fast for us to keep up." You immediately put your hands over your mouth and shook your head, finally slowing down. 

Moving your hands from your mouth, you looked over at the two people in front of you, "sorry. Sorry, I uhm I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into you both… Are you hurt…? If you are, I have some medical supplies in my bag." 

The dark-skinned boy smiled and shook his head, "Nah mate. I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting it. Anyways I'm hop, you're soon to be next champion!" He said excitedly, the person next to him shoved him playfully and chuckled, "ignore him, he gets ahead of himself at times. I'm Victor, who are you?" He asked. 

You felt the spotlight on you again, quickly you muttered, "I- I'm y/n" Hop and Victor smiled sweetly at you, "That's cool. Where are you going to in such a hurry if you don't mind me asking?" Victor asked. 

You shrunk, "well, I was going to the uh, the wild area." You replied quietly. Hop perked up, "so you're a trainer? That's so cool! Are you going to compete in the gym challenge? Me and Victor where just about to get registered ourselves!" Hop exclaimed in delight, you were coming to realize that he is very energetic…

"Yeah, I was about to uhm… but I got scared, and I thought going to the wild area might calm me down…" You said hiding in your hoodie, your brother got it for you a while back, it was your f/c and very fluffy and warm. It was easy to hide in.

You were not looking at Hop and Victor anymore, but you could hear them still, "well, hey! How about we all go in and get registered together? Maybe it'll be easier for you if there are more people around?" Hop suggested in a soft voice. 

You bit your lip, Rahian wanted you to do this so you  _ wouldn't _ be so dependent on others, not to mention more people made you scared but… You might not be able to get registered if you don't go now, and these two seem nice at least; they did calm you down so… "o-okay," you said in a small voice.

"That's the spirit!" Hop yelled, making you flinch. Victor gave you a sympathetic look as Hop ran off to the pokemon center that was right behind you. 

"Sorry about him," Victor said, walking slowly with you as he followed Hop. "It's fine, I just, uh, get a bit startled when I hear shouting…" You trailed off, looking at the ground again. 

Victor said nothing but both continued walking to the pokemon center, there was a woman with a yamper at the door though, she seemed to be talking to Hop. Going closer, she noticed Victor and me. 

She smiled and waved, signaling to us to come closer, "Heya Victor! We were just talking about the gym challenge!" She called out. 

I looked at her, she had orange, wavy hair that she put up in a side ponytail, there were small silver hearts in her hair as well. She had glasses that rested on the top of her head, she had green eyes and light skin. She wore a cyan shirt underneath an opened, light brown coat. She wore light blue skinny jeans and cyan and black-colored boots with more silver hearts. She had a small black purse that was slightly hidden by her overcoat. 

"Oh? What about?" Victor asked, "nothing much, really. I was just making sure you two know where to register at, oh, and don't forget you have to go on the field to meet the gym leaders tomorrow, too, after you register!" She answered casually. 

Your heartbeat speeds up, you completely forgot that you had to meet the gym leaders on the field tomorrow, in front of all of those  _ people  _ no less. You had met them all already, only for a few minutes before you hid once again. 

You weren't paying attention again, you didn't know if you could do this again, would Raihan be upset that you had chickened out? Would he be upset? Of course, he'd be upset! What were you thinking? 

The world started to spin around you, and you backed up, closing your eyes and covering your head with your hands.  _ I wish this stupid challenge didn't exist, then I wouldn't have to be in the spotlight, then nobody would have to see me fail! _

You couldn't hear anything but your own thoughts, and you could feel tears welling up in your eyes as your throat tightened. You could feel Jangmo-o on your shoulder, nudging your neck in worry, it helped ever so slightly. 

You could faintly hear voices, but you didn't pay attention, or at least you wouldn't have until the woman grabbed both of your wrists, you opened your eyes in a hurry as she bent down to your eye level. It made you flinch at first, but she wasn't rough, she only did it to get your attention, like Raihan would sometimes… 

"Hey honey, listen to my voice okay? It's okay, your okay… Just follow my lead and take deep breaths…" The woman said quietly and calmly. You followed her breathing until you finally felt calm again. You took Jangmo-o and held him in your arms, it made you feel better. 

"S-sorry guys, I just got overwhelmed… I hope I didn't worry you all too much…" you said in a shaky voice. The woman who was still on eye-level smiled sweetly, "its okay, honey, it happens to everyone." She replied. 

You didn't say anything but looked away. The woman didn't get discouraged, though, and continued to talk, "you know even Leon has anxiety attacks." She said softly. That one made you turn your head back in shock. 

"He… He does?" You asked starstruck. Even someone as accomplished as the champion had anxiety attacks? The woman nodded, "when he and I were on our own gym challenge, he had gotten overwhelmed with everything around him." She started, recalling a memory. 

"The worst was when he lost a gym battle, and he had started to shake and breathe heavily, he kept looking back and forth quickly because he thought everyone was making fun of him." She continued, talking so casually about someone so famous. 

"He got help, though, and he calmed down. He got his composer and look at him now! He's the champion!" She ended happily. You just stared in awe. Not being able to say anything but muttering out a quiet "Woah." Like a child getting a surprise gift for there birthday. 

"I didn't know Lee had felt that way before Sonia!" Hop called out finally. You jumped a little, you had forgotten that Victor and Hop where there. Sonia had nodded and smiled, "I'll tell you embarrassing stories about your brother when he was younger later Hop, but I believe you all have to register to the gym challenge?" She remarked, Hop said nothing but looked slightly disappointed. 

_ I thought he looked familiar…  _ you thought to yourself, it's most likely the duo got there endorsements from Leon. Sonia walked off, and you, Hop, and Victor went inside the Pokemon Center to heal your Pokemon. Your Pokemon had already been healed, but Hop and Victor just came from the wild area and needed them to rest. 

You three headed out quickly, though, and led straight forward to Motostoke stadium. You saw Leon in front of the lift up to the higher part of Motostoke. 

"Lee!" Hop exclaimed and ran over to the champion, wrapping him in a quick hug. "Hop! You act like you haven't seen me in years, it's only been a few hours!" Lee said back, but with no real harm in his voice, he was playing around as he hugged Hop back. 

"Well, it feels like it! We hardly see you anymore anyways, Lee, even if you were home just yesterday." He says, letting Leon go. Smiling widely, it was cute how much they loved each other. Leon looked over to you and Victor smiling, "I see Victor made it here too, And I see Rahian finally convinced you to join the gym challenge y/n!" Leon said brightly.

You just nodded, not saying anything, but Hop and Victor looked at you in surprise. Leon, noticing this, said, "You two should know that Raihan is y/n's brother! Whenever he and I can hang out, he hardly stops talking about you!" Leon said as Hop and Victor's face turned to shock quickly.

"Well, from what I hear, you don't stop talking of Hop that much, either, so you can't say anything." You replied back, playfully. Leon just chuckled to himself as Hop ran over to you, "You and Raihan are related? He's the top gym leader! Why didn't you say anything!?" He shouted in your face, and you flinched back, moving Jangmo-o behind you instinctively.

Victor pushed Hop out of the way quickly, "I think you're scaring them, Hop." He said hesitantly as Hop realized what he'd done and started apologizing swiftly, you said it was fine, and Leon gave Hop a miracle seed, Victor a piece of charcoal. He didn't have anything else on him to give you; you said it was okay that he didn't need to give you anything, but in the end, you got 1,000¥.

Coming back into Motostoke gym stadium was better this time; you felt calmer, and even if you did feel anxious, it was manageable, especially with being able to feel Jangmo-o in your arms. Victor, Hop, and you made your way to the front desk, having a light conversation when you noticed someone familiar.

"Bede?" You called out, the white-haired teen turned around, distaste on his face as per usual. "Oh, y/n. You're here, I thought you didn't want to participate in the gym challenge." He said unamused. Your cheeks lit up with embarrassment, "Well... I didn't but, Rahian convinced me too..." You trailed off, Bede's face didn't change, "Whatever, I don't really care, Just stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours." He replied, hitting Hop's shoulder and making his way outside the stadium.

You were never really sure how to feel about Bede, he is a jerk, but your intuition is telling you there's something more than just that... "What a piece of art..." Hop said lowly but shook it off. Literally, he shook his head

as if to get the interaction out of his head.

He turned to you, "Hey y/n, how do you know that guy?" Hop asked, and you just looked down once again, "Well... Bede is usually with chairmen Rose and or Oleana, Sometimes Chairmen Rose would go to Hammerlocke stadium to see how things were going there and while those three talked every now and then Bede. I would make small conversation before they left, I don't know him all that well..." You admitted. 

I'm surprised y/n is here; every time I'd met her, she seemed so timid and against any kind of attention, always hiding behind Raihan. 

You two didn't speak much since you only met occasionally at most, but he admits you where nice to talk to, he guesses. 

But he couldn't quite place it, every time you were near his heart seemed to beat ever so faster, he felt his face heat up, he felt like you were the most important thing in the room, one-upping even himself.

You seemed cute, looked, and acted as fragile as if the slightest wind could blow you down, he found it oddly charming. But he brushed it off each time, keeping his facade strong, but why did you make him feel like this? What's with you?

Why where  _ you  _ different? 

Hop shrugged it off, and Victor decided to go ahead of everyone and register without you two. You and Hop noticed and went along with Victor to register yourselves, you heard a bit of the conversation, "Well, color me surprised, this is the first time champion Leon has endorsed anybody!" The man at the front desk said.

Hop put down his endorsement at that moment saying, "Well, make that two then!" Hop said making the man turn to face him, he examined the paper before saying, "well I'll be! Two challengers endorsed by the champion himself! And in the same competition no less!" 

"Uh… mister?" You spoke up, looking up at the tall man. "I'm here to register, too…" you said in a meek voice as you placed the endorsement letter that your brother gave you on the counter.

The man looked over it, and smiled, "Raihan gives out endorsements very sparingly! This is a shock. Indeed, I wonder what made those two endorse you all this year?" The man said. 

"Well, anyways you are all registered, your jersey number will be randomized, don't forget about the opening ceremony tomorrow morning!" He said as we all walked off. 

Hop and Victor ran to the hotel while you spotted Marine out of the corner of my eye as I was walking and called out to her. She turned around and looked to you, recognizing you she said a dull monotone, "hey." 

You walked over to her, morkopeo jumping up to you, "oh, jeez uh, hello morkopeo!" You quickly stuttered out as your balance stumbled and faltered from the added weight. 

"I see morkopeo missed you." She chuckled lightly as you smiled in response. Jangmo-o seemed upset that you were giving someone other than his attention. 

You and Marine chuckled at his dramatics as you set morkopeo down to not upset your drama queen. "So how have you been Marine? It's been a hot second since we've seen each other." You asked her.

She replied monotone as usual, "nothing much honestly, mostly preparing for the gym challenge." She said you hummed in response. "Speaking of which, are you in the gym challenge? I know you didn't want to enter, but did Raihan convince you otherwise?" She asked. 

You laughed nervously, "eheh yes, he did, I still don't much wanna be here, but if Raihan really thinks it'll help me, I might as well try it out, right…?" You answered quietly. 

A small smile resided on Marines face, "then do you wanna go to the hotel together? It's right next to the stadium." She said, you nodded, and you two started walking. 

You had a light conversation as you walked to the hotel as you entered, however…

"Is that team yell?" Marine asked, "are they fighting Victor and Hop?!" You yelled. You and Marine ran up the stairs to see team yell, losing to hop and Victor. 

"And what do you lot think you're doing?" Marnie yelled at them. They turned around surprised, "Marnie we we're just…" they trailed off quickly, looking guilty. 

"You all outta be ashamed of yourselves. Makin a ruckus in this hotel for no reason. You all got other things to do. Runoff now." She instructed, and the grunts did as they were told. 

Marnie walked up to Victor and Hop, "sorry about them, they often get quite shirty with other gym challengers." She started. "They call themselves my fans, goin around cheering me on, but they can get a little… extreme at times." Marnie says.

Victor just nodded as Hop smiled, saying, "so you got fans already? That's awesome!" Marnie looked a little shocked at first, she must not have expected that, but another small smile resided on her face afterward. 

It was the next morning, and everyone had just come from the opening ceremony. 

"That was so cool! Meeting all the gym leaders and being in the big open stadium was exhilarating!" Hop shouted, moving from side to side excitedly. 

"It was kind of scary…" you muttered to yourself, "the first gym is in turrfield, right?" Victor asked. You nodded. 

"Then that's where I'm headed! See you two on the flip side!" Hop yelled, running out. You were still getting used to Hops energy, and you jumped back, and Jangmo-o nearly fell off you in response. 

You heard him huff in annoyance but didn't do anything besides that. "Well guess we might as well head out, y/n, we can meet up at galar cave if you want?" Victor asked. 

You didn't say anything but nodded, Victor smiled and left you and Jangmo-o alone. You took deep breaths while trying to prepare yourself for route three. "Well, Jangmo-o, ready for an adventure?" You asked him.

He huffed dramatically, and you chuckled, you put back on your shoulder as you started walking forward. You hardly walked a few steps before someone asked you to battle.

Them popping out of practically nowhere startled you, but you battled them; nonetheless, you were shaking hard. This was your first  _ actual  _ battle, and you were terrified; if you're honest, Jangmo-o did most of it on his own, you hardly commanding him to do much, but even so, you ended up victorious. 

You practically had stars in your eyes, your first actual battle! And you won it! You almost squealed with joy. The adrenaline rush of your first real battle was still high, and you realized that this was a lot easier than you thought it'd be. 

You had made your way to galar mine, and you saw Victor waiting for you, "s-sorry if I made you wait, Victor." You stuttered out, he smiled warmly, "don't worry about it y/n. I just got here, ready to head inside?" You nodded, and you both made headway to the caves. 

You looked around it in awe, there were so many pretty gems, the whole place seemed sparkling. "It's really pretty in here, huh y/n?" Victor asked. You just nodded in response. Even Jangmo-o seemed awestruck. 

Victor eventually lightly shook you and asked if you were going to move forward. You slightly blushed in embarrassment and said yes before you and him moved on through the cave. 

You and Victor had battled some trainers together, and you felt a little more confident in yourself,  _ I guess Raihan was right after all… _ you thought to yourself right before you heard, "coming this way? I'd advise against it. Anyone with a wishing star is in for a beating from my PokemonPokemon and me." 

You jumped back and hid behind Victor, startled. You recognized the voice as Bede's as you could see, Victor roll his eyes and walk forward anyway. You trailed behind him, as though he were a shield. 

"You," Bede said, you could practically hear the disgust oozing out from him. "You're the one endorsed by the champion himself, right? And y/n endorsed by the top gym leader?" He asked, "you do realize the Chairman is more important than the champion or any gym leaders. And I was endorsed by the Chairman himself, which makes me more amazing than you two." Bede said, as egotistical as before. 

Victor, again, rolled his eyes at Bede, not much caring about him. You could tell Bede noticed this as he said, "I suppose I should prove without a doubt just how pathetic you are and how strong I am." And with that, he and Victor were battling. 

I moved off to the sidelines with Jangmo-o as he was looking at Bede with what you could tell was hatred. You picked him up from your shoulder and held him in your arms, Jangmo-o looked at you, as if saying 'what?' 

You chuckled at your Pokemon'sPokemon's dramatics and softly said, "I know Bede is a jerk… But I know there's something more than just that Jangmo-o. I just gotta figure out what…"

Jangmo-o didn't say anything, but his look of hate just turned into one of annoyance. You just chuckled at your PokemonPokemon. 

Looking back at the fight, Victor had beat Bede in a battle, "Hmm, well, I suppose I wasn't trying that hard anyway." Bede said, seemingly trying to convince himself more than Victor. 

You smiled at Victor, and he returned with a thumbs up; you knew talking to Bede is like playing with fire, but you might as well try and be friendly. 

"Uhm, hey, uh here." You said, shoving revives and potions in his arms. "You… fought well, I- uh here… to heal, you… pokemon…" You ended up looking back at the ground. 

Bede felt his face heat up slightly but hide it under his cocky attitude, "well, of course, I fought well, I knew that." He said, walking out of the cave quickly as to hide the ever-growing blush on his face. 

He found your stutter adorable, and the way you would shyly give him items made his heart flutter, what the hell was happening to him? 

"I just got my first gym badge slowpokes!" Hop proclaimed outside turrfield gym. Victor and you only just made it here, how did hop already beat the gym?!

"Woah Hop... You must be really strong to beat a gym so quickly!" You muttered out, and Hop grinned widely. "Thanks, mate! This is just another chapter in my epic tale, though!" He said, again loudly. "You two hurry up and get your next gym badge so we can meet up in huddlebury!" Hop proclaimed, running off. 

"Uh… you can try your hand at the gym challenge first, Victor. I need to train up my PokemonPokemon first… Nickit is behind quite a few levels…" you told Victor, trailing off as per usual. He just smiled and gave you a thumbs-up as he headed inside the stadium. 

You sighed, finally alone again. You took out Nickits Pokeball and let him out, "hey buddy, you ready to train some?" You asked him, he smiled, so you started to walk to the tall grass right outside the village to train with some wild pokemon. You hoped you would become more confident in your own abilities as a trainer too. 

You saw Jangmo-o sitting around lazily, "Hey honey, you should watch too, to try and get some experience." You suggested to which Jangmo-o sighed dramatically and got up to look at the battle. 

It was a few hours later, and you had just left camp, and where about to enter the gym, thinking it had been a while since Victor entered, he had probably finished by now. 

"Hey there, y/n." A monotone voice spoke, you flinched back with an audible "eep!" As Jangmo-o hit your face lightly as if to say 'calm down,' you turned around to see Marnie and morkopeo behind you, "oh, hi Marnie, I'm sorry, you just scared me…" You said quietly, looking down on the ground once again. 

"S'fine y/n. I know your skittish, sorry for scaring you." She said, you just smiled lightly, "so were you about to challenge the gym, too, Marnie?" You asked. 

Marnie's face didn't change much, you realized it never did much. "Mmm. I'm assuming you were about to do the same?" She asked, and you nodded. 

"Wanna walk in together? Might put your nerves at ease." She suggested, and you agreed. You two walked down to the gym stadium, and you remembered how big these places are. 

"You don't need to worry y/n. You're a strong trainer, I know you'll beat them." Marnie said, you just looked down, "thanks Marnie, but I um, I get nervous in front of crowds…" you said. 

Marnie nodded, "that's understandable y/n, When I was younger I got scared in front of crowds too, but my brother taught me a little trick, just pretend they aren't there." Marnie said.

You looked doubtful, "are you sure it works…?" You asked, hesitance in your eyes. "'Course it does, And even if it doesn't, once this is over, you can finally have it off your chest." She spoke. 

You looked up to her again, before looking straightforward still. You breathed in and out deeply, "I got this." You talked to yourself, "You got this." Marnie agreed, repeating you. "It'll be fine." You told yourself. "It'll be fine," Marnie repeated again. 

You took one last final deep breath and hugged Marnie, which startled her, but she hugged back in the end, "and I'll be right here when your done y/n." She said warmly. 

You smiled at her, "thanks Marnie, wish me luck!" You said as you changed into your field clothes and went to challenge the gym leader. 

Marnie didn't know why she felt all warm inside with you, why she kept thinking about you often, why she seemed to smile more around you, it was odd. 

She often found you cute on how often you'd flinch at the smallest sound, how you seemed calmer with her, she took it with pride. 

She never felt this way before, it was new, it was exciting, and most of all it was scary. She didn't know if this feeling was normal, was something wrong with  _ her?  _

Marine sat on the couch in the stadium, waiting for you to come back. Morkepo made themselves known by jumping onto Marines's lap. Marine let a chuckle escape her, "you want some attention more?" She asked them. 

Morkepo yelled delightfully in agreement. Marine smiled and started stroking her PokemonPokemon, waiting for y/n to come and tell her how she did. 

She felt like she was on the edge of her seat, she was worried more for you than herself. She sighed and shook her head, it was probably fine, friends worry about each other. 

Marine decided now wasn't the time to pick apart her weird feelings and let herself get caught in petting morkepo and waiting for you to finish. 

_ Ohhhh no. _

_ No no no no no no no _

This place is enormous! Look at all those people in the stands! You can't do this, oh God. 

You caught your thoughts quickly, though, and shook your head viciously.  _ No, no y/n! Just pretend they're not there! They aren't there. Nobodys going to judge you. _

You only half convinced yourself, but it's now or never. You took a deep breath and went onto the field, you saw Milo come closer as you both entered the middle area. 

"I'm glad your here y/n. I know you're skittish, but I won't go easy on you for that." He said, and you were happy and scared that Milo was going to go all out and scared at the same time. 

You both stepped back and sent out your PokemonPokemon. You still had Jangmo-o on your shoulder, but you decided that nickit should go first, so Milo dynamaxes his second pokemon Jangmo-o could get dynamaxed and hopefully make them faint because he's a higher level than nickit. 

And to your surprise, your plan worked. Somehow you and your team pulled out a victory. You nearly squealed with delight.

You almost lept on Marnie with delight when you got out of the stadium. Marnie, not expecting it, jumped back a bit, but once she noticed your arms around her, she hugged back. 

"I'm taking it you won?" She asked quietly, you nodded excitedly and she smiled ever so slightly. "So, you're going to hulbury to fight Nessa now, right?" 

You nodded, "that's the plan unless you want me to stay?" You Asked, and Marnie smiled, then shook her head, "see you around then!" You said as Marnie waved goodbye to you. 

And with that you left for huddlebury, Marnie left the dust. You couldn't help it, you just felt so happy! You never thought you'd win a battle against an actual gym leader! You knew it was the easiest gym leader, being the first, but still! That's a good start considering you did it first try! 

You were walking around the route that went from turffield to huddlebury; if you recalled correctly, Nessa was next on the list, and honestly, she intimidated you; she was beautiful and strong. Milo calmed you down more because he was sweet and gentle, Not that Nessa seemed to mean she just… Intimidated you, like every other gym leader did. 

You sighed; maybe this was going to be a little harder than how it looked five seconds ago. You finally made it to Huddlebury and were met with victor, Bede, Chairmen Rose, and Oleana, though Rose and Victor were talking- you didn't want to disturb them, maybe you should- "Hey Y/n!" You heard Victor say, and you looked back to him with a nervous smile, "H-hey, Victor!" You stuttered out. 

Victor just smiled, and Rose looked at you curiously, "Oh, Y/n? I remember you; you're Raihan's little sister, right?" He asked, and you nodded nervously, You don't know why, but Rose gave you some weird feeling like he was doing something terrible? You dunno, it's probably just your anxiety. 

"We were just talking about going to grab lunch at this town's seafood place. I hear it's the best in Galar." He said, and you shook your head, "I'm sorry, Rose, but um I have something I need to do, maybe next time…?" You offered, and Rose just smiled, "It's fine, Y/n. Once Victor beats Nessa, he, I, and Sonia will be having a small chat." He said, "But I shouldn't keep you waiting, I'll be in the seafood restaurant, Victor. I'll see you there." He said, entering the building 

Oleana stayed outside, though, telling victor to hurry up essentially, as Bede walked off to some cave. Walking over to Victor, you offered an "H-hi." To him to which he smiled in response, "Hey, I'm taking it, you beat Milo?" He asked to which you nodded in response, his smile widened. "Good job, y/n!" He praised, and you found yourself blushing at the compliment; you weren't used to compliments still, "Y-you beat him too! S-so, you did good as well…" You trailed off, Victor just nodded in response. 

"Anyways, I should go try my hand at that Gym before Oleana, I think her name was? Comes out to yell at me." He said as you nodded, waving bye to him. You decided to go into the cave Bede went into and look around, you hoped it was like the first one you went to because it was charming.

You stepped in, and the first thing you see is Mr. Egotistical looking around for, you assume, wishing stars. "U-um, Hello…" You trailed off, looking down. The words were out of your mouth before you knew what happened, you actually didn't wanna talk to him, he seemed to dislike you but, well, too late now. "Oh, Y/n? What are you doing here?" He asked, and you looked away, you hated looking people in the eye.

"Well, the mines are beautiful, and I'm waiting for Victor to finish battling Nessa, s-so I thought I might as well look around here, r-right?" You answered as Bede hummed in response. You guys sat in uncomfortable silence for a little while until you blurted out a "D-do you want to battle?" And again, your mouth betrayed you in this instant.

You figured Bede was strong, he'd probably crush you like the weak little bug you were, but, to your surprise and Bede's, you won. "Wait, what." Was all you said when the battle finished as Bede huffed out a 'well I wasn't really trying anyway.' You smiled widely, maybe you were actually good at this? "Hmm, you showed some potential, so I let you win." He said, "Here, to show you at least tried." And he handed you his League card, you rummaged through your bag and took out your own league card and gave it to him, he looked at it with disgust, "And why would I want this?" He asked, and you visibility deflated. 

"We-well I though since you gave me yours I-I'd give you mine… I-If you don't want it, I'll t-take it back…" You said, voice shaking, your eyes were on the floor, and you held out your hand for bede to give you back your card. He just huffed though, saying, "It's whatever. You probably have nobody to give it to anyways." And you loomed up again, bringing your hand back to your chest, "oh, well, um, thanks…" You muttered as Bede started walking away, you felt your heartache watching him go, but you knew he had better things to do. 

You liked Bede, sure he wasn't pleasant, but you could tell he's trying, even if he still does hurt you sometimes… You were determined to break through his barriers and give him the love he deserved, you would say you're good at reading people, and you could tell Bede had a bad past, why else would he be so cold towards everyone, right? 

You flipped over his league card and read it carefully, In fact, you read it a few times over, you smiled. You were right, and he was just like you. 

Bede was feeling bad, he made you feel bad, he hadn't meant to do that, no not at all. Bede quickly shook his head though, why did he care anyway? You were just another person, just some random shy kid he met. Why does he care so much? He would never admit that he found you cute; he was too proud of that, so he voted on ignoring his feelings. 

There's no way  _ that  _ can possibly go wrong, right?

You woke up the next morning in a hotel room. You had beat Nessa yesterday, and this morning you were going to try to win against Kabu, you'd been told he's the first real obstacle from a challenger and finishing this thing. 

You breathed in and out slowly, you could do this. Yesterday you'd also talked to and battled Marnie; she was kind, even though you'd lost. You decided that you'd need to find more pokemon and train up the ones you currently have. 

You nudged Jangmo-o, and he started waking up, albeit begrudgingly. He and you made it out of the hotel room and into the lobby to see Marnie there. You gave her a small smile, "H-hi Marnie." You said, Marnie turned, her face still blank, and replied, "Hey, y/n." 

"What are you doing?" You asked, walking next to her, "I was just waiting to fight Kabu, some of the challengers went to fight already, so I have to wait." She replied monotone. You gave a nervous smile, "Well, um, did you want to train with me?" You suggested as Marnie gave you a curious look. "I-I mean you don't have to if you don't want to! I w-was just offering y-y'know?" You quickly said, backpedaling.

Marnie just said, "Wait." In the midst of your storm of apologies, you were blurting out, You stopped as quickly as you started, and you could feel Jangmo-o roll his eyes at you. "It wasn't a no, I'd… I'd like to train with you, y/n. I just might not be there very long, is all." 

You let go of the breath you didn't know you had, "Okay… we can go now if that's good…?" You asked, and she nodded as you smiled brightly, and if you didn't know any better, you'd say you could see a faint blush on her cheeks. You then gained your confidence back, running to the door and motioning for Marnie to do the same. 

She smiled, ever so slightly, and walked over to you. 

Okay you'd admit. 

Kabu's kind of strong. 

Right now, your wooper that'd you just caught was on the brink of fainting, she had only ten HP left, and your other PokemonPokemon were severely hurt. They could still fight, but you knew Kabu's centiscorch was about the same as your wooper, who you'd named SeashellSeashell, and everyone was on the edge of their seat of all you. 

You decided to take a risky move, and with this being your last turn to Dynamax as Kabu's Pokemon turned small again, you told Seashell to use max geyser. You thanked your lucky stars. Seashell was faster than them because somehow, you managed to pull out a victory. 

You jumped slightly in the air in triumph as Kabu fell to the ground, talking about he still has much to learn. You were too much into the adrenaline high to really listen to what he was saying really, you just nodded your head blankly and shook his hand, gaining the fire badge. 

You put it on your challenger ring and grinned madly, you were going to see Raihan again! Well, you could if you wanted to and you know he didn't say it, but you could tell he had his heart set on you returning to him when you'd gotten all three badges. 

You were so happy, you'd gotten all three badges, on the first try no less! Raihan was going to be so happy! You hadn't even realized you'd gone back into the lobby until you heard Bede scoffing as you entered. You walked a little farther in and got jumped by Hop.

"Wow, mate! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time; I mean, if anyone could do it, it'd be you and Jangmo-o but still!" He said as you flinched back, only slightly this time though, and Jangmo-o held his head high, his ego being inflated more, which definitely shouldn't happen. 

You just nodded, and Victor apologized on Hop's behalf of his loudness; not too long after Marnie came over and congratulated you. By the end, you were blushing with embarrassment, popularity was never your thing, but as you were hiding in your f/c hoodie, Jangmo-o was soaking up all the compliments and boosts to his ego. 

All four of you walked off to outside motostroke and into the wild area as Hop started shouting again at nobody, really.  _ This kid's got a lot of energy… _ You thought to yourself. But it was then Bede made himself known, talking to Victor and you. 

"O-oh hi, Bede! How are you?" You asked you cursed at yourself the second the words came out of your mouth, you shouldn't have said anything, this is  _ Bede  _ we're talking to, yet that other part of your brain insisted you do it anyway, you really wanted to be friends with Bede, and it was a dilemma for you. 

His face shifted into that of suspicion,  _ why…. Is he suspicious? Is he wary of me?  _ You thought silently to yourself, "I'm fine, why do you ask?" He questioned, and you felt a spike of anxiety; oh _ god, I can't tell him I wanna be friends, can I?  _ "Well… It's polite to ask people how they are… Right?" You said, looking down and playing with your fingers. 

Bede rolled his eyes and targeted Victor and Hop next, "So you two are the champion endorsed challengers, God, Leon must have really been off his rocker to endorse the likes of you." Bede paused for a moment before adding, "I mean, it seems Hop can't even throw a Pokeball correctly." 

That was somehow the thing that got on Hop's nerves as he replied, "Rubbish, more like you don't recognize greatness when you see it." And Bede sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Fine, I'll battle you over there." He said, walking away to the intended spot. Hop's smile just widened, "I'll show you my real skills in battle!" He said, running off. 

You just stood there, soaking in what happened. From what little you knew of Bede, you knew if he won, he'd hit below the belt, and you figured Hop could take it, but you had a gut feeling something would happen, But the two had already left. 

"Anyways, I'm going to go train in the wild area, how about you two?" Victor asked, "Probably the same." Marnie replied as you were still looking at the floor, "Well, I'll probably try and go to hammerlocke, but I might train on the way there…" You said as you heard Jangmo-o groan in annoyance as everyone chuckled at his dramatics. 

You all waved goodbye and went your separate ways. You went on the all too familiar path from the wild area in motostroke to the wild area in hammerlocke. You practically had the thing memorized, and you had an idea on who you wanted for your team next just needed the weather to play out in your favor. 

And thankfully for you, it did. You were glad you had your sweater because it was  _ cold _ . But you needed to do this if you were going to try and face your brother, so you and Jangmo-o walked through the snowstorm for a good while until you found them. 

Right there in the snowstorm, there was a snorunt, and you jumped up and down in excitement as Jangmo-o got ready for the coming battle. You had your eye on snorunt since before you had gotten Jangmo-o, you felt a sort of kinship with the cold PokemonPokemon for some reason. 

But you shook your head, You needed to go and battle the snorunt to catch it first, You walked over sneakily with Jangmo-o on your shoulder, but apparently not sneaky enough because snorunt noticed you but instead of running away or coming closer to fight you they took a shaky step forward as if trying to judge your worth. 

You slowly opened your hand out to the snorunt and slowly stepped forward as you talked to them in a low, sweet voice, trying to comfort them. You even slowly crouched down to be on their level, and slowly they touched your hand; it was cold, and you had to stop yourself from flinching back. 

You slowly moved your hand closest to them to go and pet them, you smiled when you saw them lean into them, "Do you… wanna come with me, little fellow?" You asked, and the snorunt looked thoughtful before nodding hesitantly, you took out a Pokeball, and told them you'd take good care of them as you caught them. 

You took your Pokeball and put it down as you got out your camping gear, what could you say? You wanted to play with your PokemonPokemon, and you were hungry. So you set up camp and started cooking. 


End file.
